Starting Daughter On A Gluten-free Diet Today....

[wolfie]

We are starting our 4.5 year old dd on a gluten-free diet today. She has been seeing a GI dr for 6 or so months and is still complaining of tummy pain. She was blood tested twice for Celiac, came back neg both times, but total IGA was elevated slightly. Not sure what that meant. They did an US of her belly, came back normal. Tried her on Lactaid for a month with all dairy, no difference. Tried Miralax to soften stools and make sure that she was emptying her bowels completely.....stilll complained and was going #2 way too much and was starting to lose weight, which she can't afford to do. We decided to do the gene test and she came back positive for HLA-DQ2 (one of the genes associated with Celiac). GI said we could do an endoscopy/biopsy to look for Celiac, but if it comes back negative, she can still have Celiac (I couldn't believe my ears......I am well aware of this, but I know most drs like to have the confirmation to diganose). She suggested trying her on a gluten-free diet for a month or so to see if her symptoms improve. If they do, GI said that is enough for her for a diganosis due to our family history and the positive DQ2 gene. We are doing the diet without telling DD, as we want as accurate of a response as we can get. I am not sure how long she will be in the dark, as she is pretty smart, but it is worth a try. DS & I already eat gluten-free, so hopefully it won't be hard to do. I think the only tough meal will be breakfast....she loves her pop tarts & Cheerios. If the stomach pain doesn't go away with the diet change, the GI wants to go ahead & do the endoscopy to look for eosinophilic gastroenteritis or esophagitis. We also had her blood drawn yesterday for RAST allergy tests to the top 8 foods, just to rule that out.

So, I am very familiar with the diet as I have been on it for almost 1.5 years and DS almost a year. I am not familiar with some of the items for younger kids (animal crackers, cookies, etc) b/c I make my own cookies or just stick with naturally gluten-free items like fruit, veggies & meats. I have removed all of dd's gluten-filled treats/cereals and put them in a rubbermaid container in my closet...out of sight, out of mind, I hope. If anyone has any suggestions on young kids treats that are tried & true, please let me know. I am hoping to just give her the gluten-free stuff and not mention why we are giving it to her....maybe say that I bought her some new special treats or something like that.

[Kibbie]

opy to look for eosinophilic gastroenteritis or esophagitis. We also had her blood drawn yesterday for RAST allergy tests to the top 8 foods, just to rule that out.

So, I am very familiar with the diet as I have been on it for almost 1.5 years and DS almost a year. I am not familiar with some of the items for younger kids (animal crackers, cookies, etc) b/c I make my own cookies or just stick with naturally gluten-free items like fruit, veggies & meats. I have removed all of dd's gluten-filled treats/cereals and put them in a rubbermaid container in my closet...out of sight, out of mind, I hope. If anyone has any suggestions on young kids treats that are tried & true, please let me know. I am hoping to just give her the gluten-free stuff and not mention why we are giving it to her....maybe say that I bought her some new special treats or something like that.

[momof2sn]

opy to look for eosinophilic gastroenteritis or esophagitis. We also had her blood drawn yesterday for RAST allergy tests to the top 8 foods, just to rule that out.

So, I am very familiar with the diet as I have been on it for almost 1.5 years and DS almost a year. I am not familiar with some of the items for younger kids (animal crackers, cookies, etc) b/c I make my own cookies or just stick with naturally gluten-free items like fruit, veggies & meats. I have removed all of dd's gluten-filled treats/cereals and put them in a rubbermaid container in my closet...out of sight, out of mind, I hope. If anyone has any suggestions on young kids treats that are tried & true, please let me know. I am hoping to just give her the gluten-free stuff and not mention why we are giving it to her....maybe say that I bought her some new special treats or something like that.

My daughter is a bit younger than yours.... 2 but I'm sure some of the stuff she eats is the same

Replacements for:

Animal Crackers: I use Envirokids Animal Cookies (Vanilla Flavored Marked Gluten free)

Ceareals: I do Envirokids (they mark the ones that are Gluten free) and Perky O's

Crackers: We us Nut Thins or round tortilla chips

Other than that we do things like Fruit-a-bu, Smart Monkey bars, Lara Bars, gluten-free pretzles, fresh fruits and veggies.

I use Ians gluten-free fish sticks and chicken nugets and saw that they had corn dogs the other day but have not tried them yet.

I buy Amys Rice Crust pizza and let my daughter top them off with what she likes.

Hope that helps

I am knew to all of this too. Do you buy all of these foods at your local health food store?? Or off the internet? Are there any foods that I should not waste my money on because they are nasty??

[wolfie]

opy to look for eosinophilic gastroenteritis or esophagitis. We also had her blood drawn yesterday for RAST allergy tests to the top 8 foods, just to rule that out.

So, I am very familiar with the diet as I have been on it for almost 1.5 years and DS almost a year. I am not familiar with some of the items for younger kids (animal crackers, cookies, etc) b/c I make my own cookies or just stick with naturally gluten-free items like fruit, veggies & meats. I have removed all of dd's gluten-filled treats/cereals and put them in a rubbermaid container in my closet...out of sight, out of mind, I hope. If anyone has any suggestions on young kids treats that are tried & true, please let me know. I am hoping to just give her the gluten-free stuff and not mention why we are giving it to her....maybe say that I bought her some new special treats or something like that.

My daughter is a bit younger than yours.... 2 but I'm sure some of the stuff she eats is the same

Replacements for:

Animal Crackers: I use Envirokids Animal Cookies (Vanilla Flavored Marked Gluten free)

Ceareals: I do Envirokids (they mark the ones that are Gluten free) and Perky O's

Crackers: We us Nut Thins or round tortilla chips

Other than that we do things like Fruit-a-bu, Smart Monkey bars, Lara Bars, gluten-free pretzles, fresh fruits and veggies.

I use Ians gluten-free fish sticks and chicken nugets and saw that they had corn dogs the other day but have not tried them yet.

I buy Amys Rice Crust pizza and let my daughter top them off with what she likes.

Hope that helps

Thanks so much for your response! I have seen most of that stuff at my local health food store and will head there tomorrow. DS tried the S'Better Farms Corn Dogs and didn't like them. I haven't tried them yet, but they smelled pretty darn good to me! Maybe I will give them to DD now! LOL!

[wolfie]

I am knew to all of this too. Do you buy all of these foods at your local health food store?? Or off the internet? Are there any foods that I should not waste my money on because they are nasty??

I buy most of our specialty foods at Whole Foods or my local health food store. Some of our grocery stores carry some stuff too, but not as big of a selection. For myself & DS, I stick mainly to naturally gluten-free foods.

I have wasted $$ on a few things that were nasty. One was a pizza made by Comfy Cuisine. I bought it at Whole Foods in the frozen food section. It was so bad that I threw it out and I usually don't do that. I also don't care for the Lara bars, but I know that a lot of people do like them. Oh and Glutino makes cereal bars that are nasty in my opinion. Typically I like most of the stuff that Glutino makes, that just happens to be one I don't.

[FeedIndy]

We use MiDel animal cookies, Envirokidz cereal, Ener-G pretzels, Nut Thins crackers, tortilla chips and mini rice cakes as our replacement for some of the old standbys. I find all of that at my regular grocery store, but I'm lucky to have a Meijer nearby with a fairly large gluten free section.

The thing I had to learn was that I didn't have to replace everything exactly. I just needed to provide a comparable food item. For the longest time I tried to find exactly what they used to eat in gluten free varieties, but it got way too expensive. Now I just try to stick with crunchy for crunchy, sweet for sweet-that sort of thing.

[jerseyangel]

Hi Kim

Wow, good luck with all of this, and I hope your daughter responds favoribly to the diet.

I'd like to suggest Envirokidz Snack Bars. They come in 3 flavors, and are very good.

[hannahsue01]

We live in the mid-west so maybe we have some different things. One of the family favorites is pirate booty....it's a white cheddar puffed popcorn that we buy at HyVee in the health food section. She likes gluten-free pretzels. The puffed popcorn in the chip isle localy is gluten-free as well. Our daughter eats allot of Actll Butter Popcorn. She eats tortia chips.....sometimes plain or with an avacodo dip or salsa. She eats peanuts. She eats allot of fruit. We have made rice crispy treats with gluten-free cereal....we also make a peanut butter version with chocolate on top. We are lucky to have a place close that makes really good gluten-free pizza and they also sell a gluten-free pizza mix but he doesn't sell it besides locally.....maybe he would be willing to ship if you were interested though. This guys flower mix also makes really good waffles that our daughter loves. She eats Oscer Myer cheese hotdogs as a snack quite often. She eats some enviro kids cereal but loves her trix and the pebbles line. She eats allot of cheese....sliced and string cheese. Yougurt is another favorite. I make my own trail mix with nuts and raisans and m&ms. She eats dried fuit....many different kinds. Our daughters are tiny as well with one in the 0% and the other in the 5%....we give even the 5 yr old whole milk and butter in anything we can. Both our daughters are on pediasure. Our daughter also likes the chicken nuggets and fish sticks mentioned above. Another favorite is jello and pudding....jello brand.....the home made instant kind. She eats cold pepperoni slices. Come summer she loves melons and tomatoes. She eats allot of carrot sticks...sometimes with a dip. She loves to eat cottage cheese as well. There are allot of options out there....were lucky to have a daughter who isn't picky. Good luck...hope all goes well. I know our daughter was on the same med for constapation and had neg blood work. She had quite a few symptoms as well as a family history and is now doing quite well on a gluten-free diet and only complains of stomach aches with a few other symptoms when glutened...usually at school.

[wolfie]

The thing I had to learn was that I didn't have to replace everything exactly. I just needed to provide a comparable food item. For the longest time I tried to find exactly what they used to eat in gluten free varieties, but it got way too expensive. Now I just try to stick with crunchy for crunchy, sweet for sweet-that sort of thing.

Very good point! That is a much better way to do it. We do have a Meijer nearby and shop there regularly. I have never seen all of the things you mentioned there, but have seen some of them. We also have a Whole Foods about 20 minutes away, so I can stock up there.

Thanks for responding!

[wolfie]

Hi Kim

Wow, good luck with all of this, and I hope your daughter responds favoribly to the diet.

I'd like to suggest Envirokidz Snack Bars. They come in 3 flavors, and are very good.

Hi Patti!

Thanks! I think I remember loving the Berry ones! I'll have to go pick some up!

Who is in your Avatar picture?

[wolfie]

We live in the mid-west so maybe we have some different things. One of the family favorites is pirate booty....it's a white cheddar puffed popcorn that we buy at HyVee in the health food section. She likes gluten-free pretzels. The puffed popcorn in the chip isle localy is gluten-free as well. Our daughter eats allot of Actll Butter Popcorn. She eats tortia chips.....sometimes plain or with an avacodo dip or salsa. She eats peanuts. She eats allot of fruit. We have made rice crispy treats with gluten-free cereal....we also make a peanut butter version with chocolate on top. We are lucky to have a place close that makes really good gluten-free pizza and they also sell a gluten-free pizza mix but he doesn't sell it besides locally.....maybe he would be willing to ship if you were interested though. This guys flower mix also makes really good waffles that our daughter loves. She eats Oscer Myer cheese hotdogs as a snack quite often. She eats some enviro kids cereal but loves her trix and the pebbles line. She eats allot of cheese....sliced and string cheese. Yougurt is another favorite. I make my own trail mix with nuts and raisans and m&ms. She eats dried fuit....many different kinds. Our daughters are tiny as well with one in the 0% and the other in the 5%....we give even the 5 yr old whole milk and butter in anything we can. Both our daughters are on pediasure. Our daughter also likes the chicken nuggets and fish sticks mentioned above. Another favorite is jello and pudding....jello brand.....the home made instant kind. She eats cold pepperoni slices. Come summer she loves melons and tomatoes. She eats allot of carrot sticks...sometimes with a dip. She loves to eat cottage cheese as well. There are allot of options out there....were lucky to have a daughter who isn't picky. Good luck...hope all goes well. I know our daughter was on the same med for constapation and had neg blood work. She had quite a few symptoms as well as a family history and is now doing quite well on a gluten-free diet and only complains of stomach aches with a few other symptoms when glutened...usually at school.

My dd's name is Hannah too! They sound a lot alike! We have some of the Pirate Booty and she loves that. Thanks for all of the fabulous ideas! I love the trail mix idea. I have all of that stuff here already and can mix it right up. She loves to dip carrots in ranch, so that would be a great snack too. I may look into the Pediasure for her or see if she likes Carnation Instant Breakfast. DS drinks that everyday. I can't see her drinking 8 oz of milk at a time though....I have a hard enough time getting her to drink 6-8 oz in a day!

What pizza place makes the gluten-free pizza? I wish there was a place around here that did that! Donato's will make a No Dough pizza and use a soy crisp as the base and top it. I can't eat it due to the soy, but DS loves it.

We got through the 1st day okay. We went to Outback for dinner and she looked at me like I had 2 heads when I sent the bread away and she ended up with grilled chicken, not chicken nuggets...LOL. She ate some and had some green beans, baked potato and love the Chocolate Thunder from Down Under. She never did question why I sent the bread away though. Phew!

[hannahsue01]

My dd's name is Hannah too! They sound a lot alike! We have some of the Pirate Booty and she loves that. Thanks for all of the fabulous ideas! I love the trail mix idea. I have all of that stuff here already and can mix it right up. She loves to dip carrots in ranch, so that would be a great snack too. I may look into the Pediasure for her or see if she likes Carnation Instant Breakfast. DS drinks that everyday. I can't see her drinking 8 oz of milk at a time though....I have a hard enough time getting her to drink 6-8 oz in a day!

What pizza place makes the gluten-free pizza? I wish there was a place around here that did that! Donato's will make a No Dough pizza and use a soy crisp as the base and top it. I can't eat it due to the soy, but DS loves it.

We got through the 1st day okay. We went to Outback for dinner and she looked at me like I had 2 heads when I sent the bread away and she ended up with grilled chicken, not chicken nuggets...LOL. She ate some and had some green beans, baked potato and love the Chocolate Thunder from Down Under. She never did question why I sent the bread away though. Phew!

I am glad to hear that Hannah's 1st day went well....hopefully you'll see some improvement here soon. My 18 month old drinks all the flavors of pediasure. My 5 year old won't drink any of them.....the only way I have gotten her to drink it is by adding Quick. Some insurance companies will cover pediasure with a doctors script....ours does. With the pediasure and extra fat intake our Hannah seems to be gaining wieght....slowly but she was loosing wieght for over a year so I am impressed. The pizza joint is called Stashus....it's a local pizza house not a chain. We have talked to the owner a few times and he is very nice. He is currently working out a price for us to buy his pizza dough flour, his flour mix, and his sausage in bulk (he runs a sausage factory as well). Locally he sells these two flours from his pizza house as well as HyVee. If you want we could talk to him and see if he would be willing to ship. I have been wanting to eat at Outback but we havn't had to the money to splurge....I'm glad to hear that it went well there. I havn't had much luck eating to many places besides a baked potato. Most places when I have asked to see the ingredients to there chicken breasts they are marinated in wheat....errrrr!

[Juliebove]

My daughter is now 8 going on 9 and some of the things she'll eat now are not things she would have eaten a few years ago. Like fruit leather!

She loved Envirokid's cereal bars. Too bad they now have soybean oil in them. She also has a soy allergy. She can eat some of their cereals though. Also allergic to milk and peanuts so some are out.

One real favorite is Orgran Spaghetti in the can. Tastes just like Spaghettios. Expensive, but makes for a quick meal when we need one. She also loves the Ian's products such as the fish sticks, chicken nuggets and the dinner complete with chicken nuggets, corn, mashed potatoes and chocolate cake.

For pasta meals, she likes Roads End Organics, sometimes with the addition of cubes of ham. She also likes the Namaste Pasta meals with the exception of the Mexican one. She didn't really dislike it. Just didn't like it either. Their pizza dough is also very good.

Some things are hard for us, like animal crackers because of her additional food allergies. But we did find some little cookies called Wizards (sorry, can't remember the brand) and she liked those. She loves anything from Enjoy Life and especially loves the little two packs of cookies. Kids are weird that way. For some reason they seem to love little individual packets of things.

She likes the Ener-G Wylde pretzels. Either the salted or the poppyseed. The sesame seed ones are not so exciting. She also loves their cinnamon rolls, but I do doctor them up a bit with some icing.

She likes the breadsticks from Glutino and will eat them with hummus or tomato soup.

Mochi is another food she likes. I get the plain kind and just cut it in squares and bake it. She'll eat it as is or dip it in soup.

[NoGluGirl]

Dear Wolfie,

One of the other members on here, Cybermommy, posted a great list of toddler friendly gluten-free foods. Here it is:

Gerber Graduate Wagon Wheels

Gerber Graduate & Parent's Choice dryed fruits & veggies

I also buy products made by "Just Tomatoes"-these are mostly single ingredient freeze dried fruits & veggies (much more variety) they also have soynuts. I buy them at Central Market but here is company info so you can find how to get them in your area. (209) 894-5371, Box 807, Westley, CA 95387 Our favorites are the Just Peas & Just Blackberries. They are good to snack on like popcorn or to add to salads (Crunchies) They are great for toddlers & easy to carry w/ you. We always have in diaper bag(Church nursery knows not to give her anything that doesn't come from her bag & they clean up immediately after snacks to be sure no stray gluten containing crumbs for her to get)

Mission corn tortillas

Great Value Spaghetti Sause (have not checked all but clearly labeled)

Great Value Mozzarella Cheese (shredded)

Great Value Honey Ham Lunch meat

(I use the above 4 ingredients in a brand new, never used on gluten products, sandwich press)

(You can do the same thing substituting pace picante sauce for spaghetti sauce & add avacado & a touch of salt)

(try penut butter & banana)

Making sandwiches in the press also helps some of those cardboard like gluten-free breads with texture & taste.

Jet Puff & Great Value Marshmallows

Fritos (all flavors)

Lay's Li'mon potato chips

Welch's fruit snack & dehydrated fruits

I use Tinkinyada pasta & or spaghetti squash (the pasta taste better to me but spagetti squash is good stretcher & I can grow in garden.

Most toddlers, kids & yes us adults like to dip. Try celery, carrot & zucchini or yellow squash sticks for dippers & peanut butter or cheese dip to dip in. If your child is to young to actually eat the veggie sticks it is a great teether & they still get some vitamins from it as well as aquiring a taste for it. Remember that your kids want to eat what you eat. You are more likely to succeed in this if you model the eating habits. It took Lyndsee about 2 days after I went gluten-free to realize she can eat anything I can. Now every time I get something to eat she is like baby bird w/ mouth open . She is eating a lot better.

Oh yeah btw we also use Bar-S Franks made with chicken, pork & beef.

They are dirt cheap & toddler friendly.

The accounting and recordkeeping would be a nightmare, hopefully you have a lot of time available to set up a good accounting system and way to keep track of all your receipts. Just go to irs.gov and look for the rules, special forms and all. Oh, and it probably only is available if you spend more than 7.5% of your AGI on it, like other medical expenses.

She also provided some other great info, as you can see!

Dear momof2sn,

I have something that will help you out. I have a list that should really help. This is overwhelming. I went through this with myself six months ago. You spend most of your day cooking and cleaning obsessively. The rest you are on the phone with reps from companies trying to find out what is safe. I decided to save you the trouble!

1. There are a number of things in the regular grocery that are safe. Some things are labeled already. Wal-Mart's Great Value brand has numerous things you can eat.

2. For the love of God use Coupons on items you are allowed to eat. People can get them and print them out online even. Call some of the local stores and ask if they accept online coupons.

3. Check the ads online and in the newspaper. You would be surprised how many people do not do this.

4. Some items like rice flour and rice noodles are safe to buy at the Chinese or oriental market. The merchants are more than happy to help you if you cannot read the label.

Now, here is my list of great things to get you started:

Condiments:

Smart Balance Margerine

Crisco Shortening

Crisco Oil

Pompeiian Olive Oil

Great Value soy sauce

Heinz Ketchup

Lea & Perrins Worchestershire Sauce (all Lea & Perrins Products are safe)

Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce

Kraft French Fat-Free Salad Dressing

Kraft Thousand Island Fat-Free Salad Dressing

Pace Picante Sauce

Ortega Salsa

All Classico Red and *White sauces

All Jif Peanut Butters including Smooth Sensations

Welch's Grape Jelly

Cool Whip*

Philadelphia Cream Cheese*

Miracle Whip

Daisy Sour Cream (fat-free, low-fat, regular)*

Snack Foods:

Utz Potato Chips (Found at Sam

[wolfie]

Thanks so much for all for all of the great suggestions!! She is doing well and doesn't suspect anything (yet)! LOL! I got the Envirokidz Animal Cookies and she loves them! I also bought the berry bars, but she hasn't tried them yet. She had pepperoni, cheese & glutino crackers for lunch yesterday and loved it! She did ask for a Pop-Tart this AM, but I told her they were all gone. She had a Van's waffle & yogurt.

I am copying all of these lists into a word file to print out and take with me to the store next time.

[gfp]

Very good point! That is a much better way to do it. We do have a Meijer nearby and shop there regularly. I have never seen all of the things you mentioned there, but have seen some of them. We also have a Whole Foods about 20 minutes away, so I can stock up there.

I was going to say similar really....

I tend to find that even for me (adult) replacing old food with new food on a piece by piece basis is lousy...

Sorry but no gluten-free pizza crust is ever as good as a real one made by hand and cooked over wood ... even though they can be very good... if you think about this is replacing that its easy to be dissapointed....

Kids tend to be even more fussy I remember as a kid we had these filled biscuits in the UK called penguin's.. they were like 6 a packet but individually wrapped in different color's and I hated the green ones... Of course they were all identical... inside the wrapper!

I even heard people complain about the shape of their pasta... genuinely... no joke someone in the UK complaining because their FREE gluten free pasta choice was limited to 3-4 shapes??? her excuse.. "I don't like the shell ones..."

.. and this was apparently someone who claimed to be an adult????

(honestly... if you are still thinking like this at 18 see a shrink not a MD)

I guess I'd say go for the more obvious just don't buy too many... the whole point is your looking for nice treats if they passingly think they taste a bit better than eating cardboard its not really a treat.... and if you use it to get them to finish the nutritious thing that perhaps does taste like cardboard (some gluten-free bread really does) its not much of a reward for them cleaning the plate ....

[wolfie]

I was going to say similar really....

I tend to find that even for me (adult) replacing old food with new food on a piece by piece basis is lousy...

Sorry but no gluten-free pizza crust is ever as good as a real one made by hand and cooked over wood ... even though they can be very good... if you think about this is replacing that its easy to be dissapointed....

Kids tend to be even more fussy I remember as a kid we had these filled biscuits in the UK called penguin's.. they were like 6 a packet but individually wrapped in different color's and I hated the green ones... Of course they were all identical... inside the wrapper!

I even heard people complain about the shape of their pasta... genuinely... no joke someone in the UK complaining because their FREE gluten free pasta choice was limited to 3-4 shapes??? her excuse.. "I don't like the shell ones..."

.. and this was apparently someone who claimed to be an adult????

(honestly... if you are still thinking like this at 18 see a shrink not a MD)

I guess I'd say go for the more obvious just don't buy too many... the whole point is your looking for nice treats if they passingly think they taste a bit better than eating cardboard its not really a treat.... and if you use it to get them to finish the nutritious thing that perhaps does taste like cardboard (some gluten-free bread really does) its not much of a reward for them cleaning the plate ....

My sister is one of those people who complains about the shape of her pasta...she is big on texture. LOL!

[momof2sn]

Dear Wolfie,

One of the other members on here, Cybermommy, posted a great list of toddler friendly gluten-free foods. Here it is:

Gerber Graduate Wagon Wheels

Gerber Graduate & Parent's Choice dryed fruits & veggies

I also buy products made by "Just Tomatoes"-these are mostly single ingredient freeze dried fruits & veggies (much more variety) they also have soynuts. I buy them at Central Market but here is company info so you can find how to get them in your area. (209) 894-5371, Box 807, Westley, CA 95387 Our favorites are the Just Peas & Just Blackberries. They are good to snack on like popcorn or to add to salads (Crunchies) They are great for toddlers & easy to carry w/ you. We always have in diaper bag(Church nursery knows not to give her anything that doesn't come from her bag & they clean up immediately after snacks to be sure no stray gluten containing crumbs for her to get)

Mission corn tortillas

Great Value Spaghetti Sause (have not checked all but clearly labeled)

Great Value Mozzarella Cheese (shredded)

Great Value Honey Ham Lunch meat

(I use the above 4 ingredients in a brand new, never used on gluten products, sandwich press)

(You can do the same thing substituting pace picante sauce for spaghetti sauce & add avacado & a touch of salt)

(try penut butter & banana)

Making sandwiches in the press also helps some of those cardboard like gluten-free breads with texture & taste.

Jet Puff & Great Value Marshmallows

Fritos (all flavors)

Lay's Li'mon potato chips

Welch's fruit snack & dehydrated fruits

I use Tinkinyada pasta & or spaghetti squash (the pasta taste better to me but spagetti squash is good stretcher & I can grow in garden.

Most toddlers, kids & yes us adults like to dip. Try celery, carrot & zucchini or yellow squash sticks for dippers & peanut butter or cheese dip to dip in. If your child is to young to actually eat the veggie sticks it is a great teether & they still get some vitamins from it as well as aquiring a taste for it. Remember that your kids want to eat what you eat. You are more likely to succeed in this if you model the eating habits. It took Lyndsee about 2 days after I went gluten-free to realize she can eat anything I can. Now every time I get something to eat she is like baby bird w/ mouth open . She is eating a lot better.

Oh yeah btw we also use Bar-S Franks made with chicken, pork & beef.

They are dirt cheap & toddler friendly.

The accounting and recordkeeping would be a nightmare, hopefully you have a lot of time available to set up a good accounting system and way to keep track of all your receipts. Just go to irs.gov and look for the rules, special forms and all. Oh, and it probably only is available if you spend more than 7.5% of your AGI on it, like other medical expenses.

She also provided some other great info, as you can see!

Dear momof2sn,

I have something that will help you out. I have a list that should really help. This is overwhelming. I went through this with myself six months ago. You spend most of your day cooking and cleaning obsessively. The rest you are on the phone with reps from companies trying to find out what is safe. I decided to save you the trouble!

1. There are a number of things in the regular grocery that are safe. Some things are labeled already. Wal-Mart's Great Value brand has numerous things you can eat.

2. For the love of God use Coupons on items you are allowed to eat. People can get them and print them out online even. Call some of the local stores and ask if they accept online coupons.

3. Check the ads online and in the newspaper. You would be surprised how many people do not do this.

4. Some items like rice flour and rice noodles are safe to buy at the Chinese or oriental market. The merchants are more than happy to help you if you cannot read the label.

Now, here is my list of great things to get you started:

Condiments:

Smart Balance Margerine

Crisco Shortening

Crisco Oil

Pompeiian Olive Oil

Great Value soy sauce

Heinz Ketchup

Lea & Perrins Worchestershire Sauce (all Lea & Perrins Products are safe)

Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce

Kraft French Fat-Free Salad Dressing

Kraft Thousand Island Fat-Free Salad Dressing

Pace Picante Sauce

Ortega Salsa

All Classico Red and *White sauces

All Jif Peanut Butters including Smooth Sensations

Welch's Grape Jelly

Cool Whip*

Philadelphia Cream Cheese*

Miracle Whip

Daisy Sour Cream (fat-free, low-fat, regular)*

Snack Foods:

Utz Potato Chips (Found at Sam

[chefmel]

Thanks so much for all for all of the great suggestions!! She is doing well and doesn't suspect anything (yet)! LOL! I got the Envirokidz Animal Cookies and she loves them! I also bought the berry bars, but she hasn't tried them yet. She had pepperoni, cheese & glutino crackers for lunch yesterday and loved it! She did ask for a Pop-Tart this AM, but I told her they were all gone. She had a Van's waffle & yogurt.

I am copying all of these lists into a word file to print out and take with me to the store next time.

Hi I am new to this site and saw all of your postings and thought I'd like to help if I can. I have a twelve yr old daughter with celiac. We found out almost 2 yrs ago this august. She is doing really well know but took a while for her to get well. I wanted to let those of you know who are recently diagnosed that if you contact the University of Chicago they will send you a huge gift basket with all kinds of samples of food and loads of information to help you get started on the diet. It is free but they do work by donations so at some time they would love for anyone to donate money to their cause. It is truly amazing what they do for celiac patients. Here is the number to call:773-702-7593 ask them about the gift basket for those newly diagnosed with celiac and they will know what you are talking about. Also I have a Great gluten free recipe for peanut butter cookies and you will never know that flour is not in them. Here it is:

Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes (just watch to see what works best in your oven)

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

That is it!! I usually double it when I make it. Just make sure when you take them out of the oven that you let them cool a little before you remove them from the cookie sheet. I know your kids will love them if they like peanut butter.

Go to Kinnikinnick.com

This place is fabulous!! I love the gluten free pizza crust, donuts, bread crumbs and cookies( the oreo ones are great!) I have lots more good info. if anyone else is interested please let me know. I hope some of this helps!!

[chefmel]

Thanks so much for all for all of the great suggestions!! She is doing well and doesn't suspect anything (yet)! LOL! I got the Envirokidz Animal Cookies and she loves them! I also bought the berry bars, but she hasn't tried them yet. She had pepperoni, cheese & glutino crackers for lunch yesterday and loved it! She did ask for a Pop-Tart this AM, but I told her they were all gone. She had a Van's waffle & yogurt.

I am copying all of these lists into a word file to print out and take with me to the store next time.

Hi I am new to this site and saw all of your postings and thought I'd like to help if I can. I have a twelve yr old daughter with celiac. We found out almost 2 yrs ago this august. She is doing really well know but took a while for her to get well. I wanted to let those of you know who are recently diagnosed that if you contact the University of Chicago they will send you a huge gift basket with all kinds of samples of food and loads of information to help you get started on the diet. It is free but they do work by donations so at some time they would love for anyone to donate money to their cause. It is truly amazing what they do for celiac patients. Here is the number to call:773-702-7593 ask them about the gift basket for those newly diagnosed with celiac and they will know what you are talking about. Also I have a Great gluten free recipe for peanut butter cookies and you will never know that flour is not in them. Here it is:

Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes (just watch to see what works best in your oven)

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

That is it!! I usually double it when I make it. Just make sure when you take them out of the oven that you let them cool a little before you remove them from the cookie sheet. I know your kids will love them if they like peanut butter.

Go to Kinnikinnick.com

This place is fabulous!! I love the gluten free pizza crust, donuts, bread crumbs and cookies( the oreo ones are great!) I have lots more good info. if anyone else is interested please let me know. I hope some of this helps!!

[NoGluGirl]

Thanks NoGluGirl for all the help!! You guys make me feel like I can actually do this!! I can't believe how much of this stuff I already have in my cabinet!!

Dear momof2sn,

You are so welcome! You can do this! It is a massive undertaking. This is a huge adjustment. I never expected to be able to eat this stuff, either. When I found out I could have it, I was ecstatic! Reese's Peanut Butter Cups were like my first love!

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

[wolfie]

Hi I am new to this site and saw all of your postings and thought I'd like to help if I can. I have a twelve yr old daughter with celiac. We found out almost 2 yrs ago this august. She is doing really well know but took a while for her to get well. I wanted to let those of you know who are recently diagnosed that if you contact the University of Chicago they will send you a huge gift basket with all kinds of samples of food and loads of information to help you get started on the diet. It is free but they do work by donations so at some time they would love for anyone to donate money to their cause. It is truly amazing what they do for celiac patients. Here is the number to call:773-702-7593 ask them about the gift basket for those newly diagnosed with celiac and they will know what you are talking about. Also I have a Great gluten free recipe for peanut butter cookies and you will never know that flour is not in them. Here it is:

Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes (just watch to see what works best in your oven)

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

That is it!! I usually double it when I make it. Just make sure when you take them out of the oven that you let them cool a little before you remove them from the cookie sheet. I know your kids will love them if they like peanut butter.

Go to Kinnikinnick.com

This place is fabulous!! I love the gluten free pizza crust, donuts, bread crumbs and cookies( the oreo ones are great!) I have lots more good info. if anyone else is interested please let me know. I hope some of this helps!!

Thanks so much for your tips and recipe!! I can't wait to give that recipe a try! I appreciate your response!

[JennyC]

My son does not care for the specialty cereal. He likes cocoa/fruity/berry pebbles, Health Valley corn "chex", Trix (make sure you read label every time they like to their minds), Dora stars, and Safeway brand cocoa atros (like cocoa puffs!!!). Lays stax are made on dedicated lines and many Kettle chips are made in a dedicated facility. He also likes corn tortilla chips and the Energy pretzels. I also put cream cheese and turkey on the large Energy crackers and he loves it! We also make alot of our own cookies, but Kinnikinnick has really good "Oreo" like cookies. We BOTH love Kinnikinnick pizza crusts, and their doughnuts taste good but they are thick and heavy. I also make him nachos, tacos, spaghetti, and Alfredo quite a bit. He also loves Safeway's chicken and rice soup. Safeway has a great gluten-free list. They also go buy other names in different regions, so you may want to check into it. I've never been a Safeway shopper, but their gluten-free list makes my life so much easier. Glutino also makes crackers that look like Ritz, but taste like saltines. Glutino also makes the wizard cookies previously mentioned. I am personally going to start shopping online for many gluten-free food items because it seems like the health food stores don't stock very much kid-friendly gluten-free food!

I hope your daughter responds well to the diet.